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So as I see it today, the U.S caters to those who are in position of power, the power of the word and the power to exert for over the masses. An while similar to things I have said in the past, however this is of a slightly different flavor. You see in those other posts I had hope, that the U.S could be saved from itself. Today I have little hope that the U.S will survive another 10 years, and I’m not talking about surviving as a republic, I’m talking about the U.S surviving as a coherent nation. A land mass of people under a shiftless group of “leaders” who would exert their authority over those whom they would pretend to coddle under that most reviled excuse of caring.

We have seen it, we have seen it already, that they think they know best and operate well outside their authority, and the “news” puts on talking heads lying about how they have this or that authority. The fact of the matter is that the Constitution enumerates the authority of the federal government, and the fact of the matter is, they do not have the authority to do any of what they do today.

1) The feds do not have the authority to rule on matter of religion.

Sodomite marriage has a key word(marriage) in it, and marriage is historically a matter of religion and has been so for thousands of years. The people and the churches should have worked this out themselves. Force is not a viable option to use against a free people, and the use of such force in matters of religion shows we are not free.

2) The feds do not have the authority to make business decisions.

Though we may agree with a “government” mandated business decision, the Constitution gives them no such authority nor should we. As it is now we have businesses operating her in the U.S that should have folded and gave way to businesses with a better product and business model.

3) The feds have ZERO authority to use your tax money to fund murder.

Let’s face it, under the “new scandal” of planned parenthood crushing babies to death all the while plucking organs from their bodies is not just disgusting it breaks, many, many laws. Murder is illegal, the child is OBVIOUSLY alive and is not a matter of debate no matter what the pro murder side says, it’s not end of story. The selling of human body parts for medical research…We executed Nazi’s for the same reason, though they may or may not have been selling body parts. Torture, as in the crushing death of a person while plucking organs from them, I can’t imagine THAT pain, can you?

4) The intrigue of spying on every man woman and not murdered child in the U.S is certainly not authorized in the U.S.

Pundits and would be do gooders, may have excuses for these people, and these programs, but that’s irrelevant. Our liberty is far more important than “government created safety” which is just a cool way of saying we are slaves and we belong to them or they could not be responsible for our safety/well being. The fact of the matter is, that if the people were armed and the National guard, military and police conducted free weapons training we would be markedly far more safe than we are under the protection of the dubious safety net of the police.

I hope these 4 big points help show you just how unfree you and I really are today. These four points are a minimalists guide of liberty, and how free we are not based on the lawlessness we face on a daily basis. I didn’t bring up the multitude of other measurements of force being used upon a “free people” to ensure their cooperation in the “land of the free” and how misguided that is. Do you feel more free today, than you did as a child if you are more than 20 years old? Do you? Do you feel more safe?

As was mentioned in many prison movies. The prison is like a castle except its goal is to keep people in and not out. Primarily. Though it does have the ability to keep people out generally, a few people are allowed access in a normal operating prison and has been used in the past to escape. In fact giving freedom to anyone in a prison is a possible viable escape route or hole in the defenses of said prison. So lets take a look at the prison used in Walking dead season 3 and 4. And how could the inhabitants of this prison made life a little easier for themselves in regards to sabotage and security.

The initial take over of the prison started off great. They attacked the locations they wanted piece meal. They secured a location and moved on. This is typical of the comic as well. However. Shortly after the crew secured the cell block and a few other areas they gave up and said enough. They settled for areas of the prison being over run with walkers or being unable to be secured as shown by the t.v version of the introduction of Tyreese and his group of survivors. A fatal flaw was that Ricks group allowed an obviously disturbed Rick make decisions that they knew to be wrong. This isn’t to say that every group should be trusted. Far from it. However, these people were obviously not a danger and wanted the safety that Ricks group shared. A wing could have been given to the group with provisos. Such as fix the giant hole you all came through. Debris, stones and other items could have been used to make the hole more secure. At least from mobility restricted walkers.

Once again the perimeter. Once they sounded the perimeter of the double fences, they should have created at least another perimeter. Tangle foot and pits. That would have been my minimum standard. Set beyond their water source. The out of gas cars could have been put into neutral and pushed into the woods or at least as far from the perimeter as possible. Along strategic lines of attack, road blocks and under cut the roads and have a few roving patrols. That’s why they need allies and numbers. As they gained after the governor was over thrown. Just because one threat is vanquished doesn’t mean another will never appear.

Defensive gardening. Heavy bushes could be planted or redistributed to various weak spots along the perimeter. Like places where tree are spaced pretty far part and would allow for many walkers to pass freely side by side. Poison ivy and oak should be planted liberally at a good distance away. Say quarter mile. This of course would not happen over night. However over the long term. It could be very useful. Thorn bushes could also be used. By using plants with various defenses that are often thick and tough to walk though. You limit mobility of the living and the dead. And as the engineers of the defenses, you would know the secret ways to get beyond and back into the defenses.

Guards. Military style guards and tower guards would largely be irrelevant. Spy glasses and binoculars from inside the building(s) would be more relevant to the type of living and available resources the community would have. However this would entail this. Reconnoiter of the area and finding possible threats. Creating LP/OP (Listening posts/observation posts) outside of the gates and inside the city along likely movement routes would be essential. Flare guns or fires would be a great signal for the inner guard posts to be looking for as well. Once a threat is identified. Like the governor. Then observance of the city and infiltration is essential. By our standards Tyreese and his group most likely wouldn’t be in the city. And thus would make poor allies for informants on the city. So who? Glenn of course.

In this scenario Glenn would not have been taken prisoner. But I will use two scenarios.

1) Glenn is captured with his wife as we’ve already seen. Who will we send now? How about Tyreese? Or his sister? Now like I said the infiltration will be the easy part. Let’s say that we send both Tyreese and his sister. They say they were part of a larger group and a few days ago their group was over run with walkers. They were the only ones they knew of that got away. Once inside they proceed as they did in the original show. Excel at their jobs and take notes on the community. Specifically their military capabilities. They will walk around for a week. Ask people questions about how safe they feel in the town having been there longer than themselves. Tell people you’ve seen some unfriendly settlements with military gear. And you don’t see any here. How would you defend against these types of rouges?

Ex-filtration will be more problematic. However as outstanding citizens of the community, trust shouldn’t be an issue. This may include doing terrible things to prove loyalty. It is unfortunate. However. Being sure of a threat or being sure of a non threat is important. Now you will know where to place limited resources. If they are a threat as they are a threat then knowing the enemies cards is a great bit of intel to have.

2) Glenn is not captured.
Have him sneak into the town early in the morning 1-3 am. Have him do a block by block search with say Daryl being daytime security.
Once any and all threats have been identified. Then send in an infiltrator to test the mood and intent of the community. The difference is this. Glenn will know what they have and know their capabilities. Once Glenn is in he is in for longer. A few months unless things go south. Now you will really gain some trust instead of just being a hard worker. Glenn will have to work hard at becoming a trusted ally to these people. Once Glenn is sure they are right or not right or even ally material then he must be allowed to make the decision to leave or make arrangements to make allies. However. If the people are supposed to be enemies there must be plentiful effort to provide proof.

For this I will use the who, what, when, where and why format. This discussion will be broke into 3 stages.

1) Introduction. Or First arrival at the farm.

2) Acceptance at the farm. Knowing they have a home.

3) Exodus from the farm.

The band of survivors is on the road. Looking for Sophia when Carl is hit with shrapnel from an exploded bullet that went through a deer. They get to the farm house. Okay. At this point they see survivor and the old man is capable of possibly helping the Carl. At this point Carls father is only worried about Carl as is to be expected. This is when a line of succession should have been made clear at a point prior to this. In this unofficial civilian run band, rank needn’t be of concern. However in this dangerous world, a second in command at least should be ready to step up if the leader is killed or becomes incapacitated. And though we do see this after a fashion with Shane and Lori, it is far from a full transfer of leadership even if only temporary.

Shane would be the obvious choice for this transfer of leadership. He is also trained in police work and knows at least how to cordon off area, and control a situation. However Shane is impulsive and seems to have little control when it comes to his own emotions. The beating he was seen throwing doesn’t is not a factor in this. His quick to anger attitude when faced with adversity of various situations is more a factor when making this call. So who? Daryl, While a good leader once given a mission and a few people is a competent “combat leader” capable of reassuring and commanding respect of his subordinates. Unfortunately he is not yet moulded into a strategic leader capable of harnessing his small unit skills into a long term commanders position.

Dale? The moral compass is rarely a good idea for a leader. While they maybe a capable of leading, the concern over the philosophy of right and wrong and not necessarily the tactical or strategic decision maybe discarded out of hand for its moral ambiguity. This is a very important voice to have however and would serve well as a member of an advisory board or council. Though their decisions may fly in the face of this members voice, the points of morality would be heard and could influence the decisions of a group seeking to human in an inhuman world.

No. The Answer is Glenn. While wild and wanting to run off and do solo missions to help the group. He is capable of making split decisions and has shown a willingness to take directions from others. While he may need to make split second decisions for the group and those would weigh heavily on his shoulders, his interim term as group leader would mostly be based on keeping the group together and safe. Where to hole up, and who needs t scavenge for what.

The females in the group at this point were not picked or even considered for a solid leadership position because of their inability to understand the concept of leadership thus far in the series. Lori can’t even keep track of Carl. Carol just got out of an abusive relationship and is mousy. And Andrea is far too eager to prove to herself and the rest of the group that she is vital and a worthy member of the group. So for these reasons the females haven’t yet come into their own to be able to lead anyone. While Glenn is indecisive sometimes, his experiences as the group runner and unique understanding of the world they find themselves thrust into. I think it would easier for him to come into his own.

However. The problem is they assumed the location they were was safe because they were told it was safe. This is PART of the issue Shane has with Ricks leadership. The relationship drama is invalid in this part of the argument. Once they get to the farm as a group the interim leadership should overtly or covertly have the property checked out as needed. The perimeter needs to be scouted and all properties and structures need to be reconnoitered. As much as possible without drawing attention or offending their host. Infiltration and ex-filtration plans should be plotted and drilled. The land owner should be asked about his property boundary lines. Just outside of the boundary natural obstacles should be erected or strengthened to try to minimize at least 3 of 4 avenues of approach using cardinal directions. This would be perimeter one and should be patrolled just inside or even up to a few hundred meters outside to help with the alert process. Silent “walker” kill would be the word of the day. Wooden spears, knives, arrows, bolts or other quiet means.

Using Hershels’ desire to not kill the “walkers” the 2nd inner perimeter could be as simple as a jack leg fence with heavy poles locking the fence into place. These of course are holding maneuvers and will not hold off indefinitely. This willingness to work within the boundaries of the property owner would lead us to the next step.

Acceptance. Once the group has come and offered to help make the property secure at least under the guise doing it for thank. For the aid rendered to to Carl and allowing him to convalesce. This would give a symbiotic relationship to the group and prove Glenn and once ready Ricks leadership as being invaluable. Once Hershal starts telling Rick to leave he would have more leverage than an emotional argument on not wanting to leave. He could point to the security his group offers and the maintenance as well as security more numbers give to the now encampment. Once they are accepted trenches and extended recons with noise makers at nearby farms could be made up. Note that none of these harm the “walkers” and would help ensure the partnership with Hershal while keeping the group safe. Slaughters of the “walker” away from the reach of Hershal they would be totally acceptable and needed.

Salvage trips to other farms in the area would be prudent. Clearing a farm a mile or two away and enclosing it in defenses would give the group an escape route and would serve as a temporary shelter until a more reasonable situation could be found. This would once again be done without the knowledge of the property owner Hershal. Over time more farms could be cleared and should be. if they have 2 or 10 options it’s better than all the eggs in one basket. And the secure farm houses could serve as look out posts if they positioned in the right spot.

The nearby suburbs should be cleared as a matter of course. Using quiet and house to house. Starting from the outer most houses to the inner most. If large groups are encountered they should seek to lure them away to a place where they will be stuck, easily dispatched or secured. A sports stadium for example. Or a buffalo drop type of deal if available. This is all easier said than done I’m sure. But hard work would pay off I think. Especially if they enforce an encampment wide noise ordinance to prevent drawing attention to themselves from “walkers” or living hazards. Somethings like the improved jack leg fences would be a risk they would have to take.

Survival skill set training for the camp. For those capable of such things. Spears, bows and crossbows should be the primary implements. As well as snares, dead falls, pits and other various booby traps. The lack the great noise of a 9mm, .45, .223 or other firearms seen or unseen by us thus far. While weapons training would serve for extreme situations. Well made air rifles or pellet guns can serve for basics and for use in maneuver warfare training in small unit tactics and weapons manipulations. Once the students have shown promise with these weapons after only a few weeks or so, then a trip to a far off location to do live fire training should be made to get used to actual weapons kick, flip and various other needs for training. This isn’t going to make great soldiers. But familiarity and basic ability should go far in this situation. With defensive measures in place and the ability to practice with real and well made look alike weapons it should hone their skill to a very good degree.

Now the last stage.

Exodus from the camp. Lets say you did everything right. But a horde of “walkers” still comes meandering up the way. Now we have several perimeters and a better chance at early warning. But accidents happen. Lets say they get past the first perimeter and get spotted at the secondary perimeter. The jack leg would prevent many of the “walkers” from continuing on their straight path and maybe force some to be killed off by the sheer numbers of a horde.

The ones that make it under the fence should be the slow crawling variety. As the weight increases the “walkers” could either roll the fence or create a ramp of dead, ‘walkers” to continue over. This would take some time and serve to limit the numbers in the actual camp right away. lets say they are spotted on the way back to camp from a recon patrol. This group would have ready bags of food, ammo and other survival essentials they need and had available. Instead of heading to the highway and wondering where to go next. They get in their vehicles and get led to an appropriate safe house where they can look over a map and recon to hardened structure. Hospitals, Prisons, Military structures, or very remote towns with favorable land.

Reon briefs should be diligent and descriptive of size of zombie numbers, location, over view of the layout of the proposed building even if you only could view the outside the size and shape of the building are vital. These will probable change with the group.

And there are thousands if not millions of variations of what could be done in these types of situations. This is my take on this.

And since they chose a prison I will continue on next time with my personal evaluation of the prison. Of course this is all my opinion except where I used select parts of the show to give a brief description of where I am coming from. I believe this falls under fair use.

However I do give credit in those select instances to AMC and the Walking dead t.v show.

This is my own person opinion of this. And has not been approved of or endorsed by AMC.

My little disclaimer. My little opinion.

Pros.
Wide open spaces.
The ability to run, the ability to see a good distance from certain places, Animals and insects noises can be alarms(seasonal), plenty of natural resources for defence and sustainment. The individuals also showed a great ability to adapt. A police officer would know about perimeters, and weapons. Anyone who was exposed to a modern military or SHTF show would have at least a rudimentary idea of defensive perimeters and sustainment operations. Even those exposed to some history channel shows about ancient man might have some idea of basic military operations. Though implementing them in an effective way might be…Challenging. Plenty of fire power, vehicles, proximity to the city.

Cons.
salvage operations were not noticably conducted in the in the traffic outside of Atlanta. No noticeable attempt to salvage military weapons or supplies. Set up camps with no thought to look outs or listening posts. No trip wire with cans/flares attached. Vehicles were no stages to expedite any offensive or defensive applications.

Have multiple perimeters with different sounds for each.
Multiple sentries.
Over watch.
Small fires. Just enough for SOME heat or to cook/boil water.
Set up decoy camps.
Place noise makers at decoy camps.
Find large cargo truck.
Search for food, water, ammo and supplies for weapons sustainment.

Either make your location tenable or find a local that is made more tenable.

Here’s a scenario.

Rick get’s out of the hospital. He gets saved and helps Morgan get guns and a shower and leaves. All the rest stays the same except until Rick is in his leadership role. Instead of accepting things the way they are. Lets say he takes charge and lets Shane know that he knows what he and his wife were up to ASAP. And let’s say he just as magnanimous right then and there. And to show him he still trusts Shane he puts him in charge of the security and crew to ensure they are safe.

Now let’s say that these people being the thinkers they are, go back to leave the city. All of the same events happen as before. EXCEPT. Glenn knows that walkers are prone to come around sound or human activity. So he speeds around a little, pull in front of the others and stop. He gets out and the others stop and he gets in. The car attracts walkers to another location possibly averting the entire camp from being over run.

When they go back for Merle. Instead of leaving their vehicle unprotected. Why not leave a guard with it? if merle is in the city wouldn’t he be leaving to the camp? It would seem to be logical. His brother is there after all. What if others are alive? What if walkers start to surround their vehicle? Just because it never happened before doesn’t mean it it can’t happen.

Now. As these changes occur, the finale may have played out quite differently. Lets see how.
Glenn and his car never made it to the mountain/hill they were camped. So one would assume that the walkers if moving and not in line with their camp would not attack them. Merle lost a lot of blood and cauterized his own wound. Chances are that he was/is at the point of reaching the vehicle he was suffering from shock and possibly loss of blood. So he would have been weak and less than stable.
So the team get their guns from the gang and get back to the vehicle. The find a wounded, upset but very alive merle tied up inside. They drive to the camp, take care of merle and wake up in the morning. Looking at maps searching for a location that will offer protection and is out of the way of direct lines other cities traffic routes. maybe during the nigh the pickets whacked a zombie or two. But no herds walked close enough to warrant a call of distress call or other action.

The point of this is not to say the character or writers are inept. Far from it. The story line is entertaining enough and their actions seem plausible in most circumstances. Sans a few. However one can accept that the wisest decisions are not always made or compromises are made for group peace.

no. This article/blog is about thinking about zombies as survival dummies to think about how you would act prior to a given situation. Like zombies are masses of people after the lights go out after a EMP, Cyber attack or terrorist attack.

The thing is. These opinions of mine are how I see things and how I would improve upon a situation given the facts. That’s What an after action review is about. Looking at what is or has happening and seeing what’s good, bad or sustained. Then improving upon it. By thinking about it you can at least have a mental plan. by training it you can have muscle memory.

Imagine if one of these people had been a prepper. Instead of going to the woods the fellow would do what was recently shown. Going out to look for allies. Asking questions or watching from a far to see if the group met his/her standards. then they could wait months or even years depending on how much was prepped. Let’s imagine this preppers buddies all bit the big one in the apocalypse.

Republicans are at fault.
No, no no. Democrats are at fault.
The real answer is…
Not only are the politicians and the bureaucracies at fault, but you and I are at fault as well. As being the duly appointed government of this republic WE THE PEOPLE have a responsibility a civic duty to ensure we keep in check our representatives. This entails our observance and participation in the political process.
By refusing these people their tyrannical laws we can defeat them.http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/nullification.html
The link is to a site on jury nullification. I would suggest really studying not only jury nullification but all Constitutional law and supreme court decisions.
Like Marbury V. Madison. Illegal laws are illegal.
Without performing our duty, without taking any responsibility we encourage the very mentality that has lead to the situation we are in.
Like children, those in representative roles must be shown their boundaries and disciplined when they act badly. That is, they must be fired(recall election/vote) or not re elected.
Career politicians must not exist.
I would suggest not paying politicians as they are performing a public duty and if they do get paid they should only be paid a minimum amount.
By not wanting to comment or take notice of politics you are not practising good survival technique. just ask the Katrina and Sandy survivors about that.
In order to “survive” you must be legally allowed to survive. Politics and survival while our representation base is still intact are intimately intertwined.
If we do go over the fiscal cliff and SHTF we will by necessity be facing a new unknown to us situation. If you’ve been to a third world nation you would be able to know, but knowing something is not living it. People say we need to change. We do. We need to take back our position as the politicians and the let the representatives represent us in a Constitutional manner.
More latter.
I hope this give you a little to think about for now though.
It is what’s on my mind for right now.

In this blog I will do survival gear reviews and commentary on news.
Different views on survival gear and methodology only serves to broaden our horizons which isn’t a bad thing. You may disagree with what I write. And that’s fine. Our differing views make life interesting. However we all must acknowledge that both of our points of view unless outright dangerous maybe viable.
As for the news. I have seen the news gloss over some pretty serious issues and not dig as they should to reveal the truth. This upsets me greatly. I want people to know that baby bush okay-ed the sexual torture of children. I want people to know that Obama aides foreign and domestic enemies of the Republic. I think that, those issues are very important.
Both those are my only two goals for this blog. I may insert some politics here and there but I’m mainly about survival and intel ala news and public information. Or information made public via whistle blowers.